Watch(wo)man

Isaiah 62:6-7 -- I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

UN: "Useless Nations" or "United Nothing"?

...In a speech given during a session of the Human Rights Commission on March 23rd, Hillel Neuer, Director of UN Watch, delivered a scathing attack on the commission's track record, describing it as a "human rights nightmare."

Responding to the speech, the Council President Luis Alfonso De Alba said Neuer's speech fell short of "minimum proper conduct," adding that Neuer's comments were "inadmissible."

"Six decades ago, in the aftermath of the Nazi horrors, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rene Cassin, and other eminent figures gathered here on the banks of lake Geneva to reaffirm the principle of human dignity," Neuer said during his address.

"What has become of this noble dream?" he continued, adding: "In this session we see the answer. Faced with compelling reports from around the world, of torture, persecution, and violence against women, what has this council pronounced, what has it decided? Nothing."

"Its response has been silence. Its response has been indifference. Its response has been criminal. One might say, in Harry Truman's words, that this has become a do nothing, good for nothing council," Neuer added.

"But that would be inaccurate," he continued. "This council has, after all, done something. It has enacted one resolution after another, condemning one single state: Israel. In eight pronouncements, and there will be three more this session, Hamas and Hizbullah have been granted impunity. The entire rest of the world; millions upon millions of victims, in 191 countries continue to go ignored," Neuer said.

"So yes, this council has done something. And the Middle East dictators who orchestrate this campaign will tell you, it is a very good thing…. But do these self-proclaimed defenders really care about Palestinian rights?" Neuer asked.

"Let us consider the past few months. More than 130 Palestinians have been killed by Palestinian forces. This is three times the combined total that were the pretexts of calling special sessions in July and November… Little three year-old boy Salam Balusha and his two brothers were murdered in their car by Prime Minister Haniyeh's troops. Why has this council chosen silence? Because Israel could not be blamed," Neuer declared.

"Because in truth, the despots who run this council couldn't care less about Palestinians or any human rights. They seek to demonize Israeli democracy. To delegitimize the Jewish state. To scapegoat the Jewish people. They also seek something else. To distort and pervert the very idea of human rights...."